Second Battle of Leningrad
Background As 1968 turned into 1969, the war began to slow down. Berlin had essentially become a divided city, the sudden revolts in Yugoslavia had driven the Soviets back to Romania, and winter made combat in Scandinavia difficult. Fronts were hardly moving, and if they did, one side's victories would equal the other's losses. Allied-controlled Western Europe lay in ruins, and the pressured Allied officials seriously considered caving in to demands of seeking a truce. The biggest obstacle to a cease-fire was not the willpower of the Soviet people; while their voices would not be channeled as much in the Union, the mayors of Russia couldn't ignore angry mobs and street protesters for too long. Premier Cherdenko, however, adamantly refused any calls for peace, refusing to believe in the defeat of the mighty Soviet army he built up. Upon the occupation of Kiev by revolting war-weary students, which was quickly put down, many leading officers and Communist Party officials began questioning Cherdenko's decision to not end the war. Among them was General Davidova herself, whose call for peace talks led to her being transferred from her position in Hungary to the Urals, where she wouldn't do any harm. Convinced that Cherdenko's policies would ruin the Soviet Union, and that he had officially gone megalomaniac, Davidova and her meagre garrison decided to depose Cherdenko, who had set up shop in Leningrad in case of an attack on the Kremlin. Indeed, several Soviet commanders who were in favour of a peace treaty were "purged" and sent to far off locations. The most spectacular of these happenings was the Easter Islands Incident where Zhana Agonskaya was almost assassinated by Chilean communists. While en route to her new station in Perm, Davidova contacted her old friend and classmate from the Officer Academy, Estonian native Jaanus Luuk, and asked him for assistance. Having cleared out the Army of Estonia of soldiers loyal to Cherdenko, Luuk's and Davidova's forces moved north towards Leningrad, taking Cherdenko by surprise. The Soviet Civil War had just begun. Force Composition Davidova's Forces Davidova lacked the numbers needed to put up a fight against the Premier, with only a small group of escorts under her command. However, Davidova was able to take command of the Novgorod Garrison's 30th Rifle Corps, bolstering her forces, and turned northwards from there. In Estonia, Jaanus Luuk's forces were waiting for Davidova to arrive. There, Davidova's forces met up with Jaanus Luuk's forces; the Estonian 113rd Motor Rifle Division, a crack Red Army division, had access to several of the latest Soviet weapons such as the Perun Tank Destroyer and the Thresher Battle Walker. Additionally, Luuk also had under his command a sizable number of Stingrays and Uruguayan Orca Landers. The 213th Helicopter Squadron, previously responsible for the defence of Leningrad, had defected and joined Davidova's forces. Still, even with the reinforcements, Davidova knew that their forces couldn't hope to outmatch the Black Guard. Manning's Forces In what is often called "the strangest collaboration in modern times" Davidova therefore sent an unencrypted radio message over open channels, asking to be connected with Field Marshal Bingham. After Davidova was identified by an ACIN agent among the closest Allied communications centre in southern Sweden, she was in short notice able to speak with Bingham. Although the Allies were already partly aware of the situation, the original plan was to stay out and let the Soviets slaughter themselves. After being informed of the reasons behind the Soviet mutiny, they realized that their goal of peace would suffer a considerable setback if Cherdenko was to triumph. Though initially assigned in the restoration and temporary occupation of Japan, the Allies specifically called in General Alex Manning to Denmark, where he would prepare to unofficially aid Davidova in the Soviet crisis, in exchange for a peace treaty shortly afterwards. The plan was to bring in the forces by Chronosphere, and thus the force could not be very large; therefore, the most powerful units the Allies had were necessary. Along with an MCV, Manning was therefore assigned a squadron of elite Mirage Tanks, a few Athena Cannons and everything the Allies could spare from their Experimental Corps, totaling 5 powerful Experimental vehicles. The Allies also assigned ace pilot Bayard Fournier to the mission, although he was only present for a short time, due to the lack of a facility at which he could land. Cherdenko's Forces The Leningrad Garrison, already badly battered during the First Battle of Leningrad, had been drawn down even further to support the counterattack against the Japanese in the east, and weakened by the defection of the 213th Helicopter Squadron to Davidova's side. The Army was severely understrength and a mere shadow of the force which had fought back Shogun Kenji Tenzai and the 2nd Imperial Division. However, the Black Guard was a foe to be reckoned with. No one in the Soviet Union doubted that the Black Guard was one of the most powerful divisions in the Red Army. The Black Guard consisted of the most brutal and well trained troops in the entire Soviet Union; one had to survive the war against all odds or be exceptionally skilled during training to have even a chance of joining the Black Guard. At the Black Guard's disposal was some of the most deadly - and outlandish equipment in the entire Red Army, exclusive to the Black Guard. Some conspiracy theorists believe that the Black Guard's equipment actually originated from another timeline. Whatever their origin, the Black Guard had an arsenal of weapons to be feared. With massive, upgraded Terminator Tanks, advanced Rhino and Tesla Tank models, extensively modified Kirov Airships, V3 Rocket Launchers that surpassed the performance of even newer V4s, and transports armed with powerful Flak Cannons, as well as three thousand crack Soviet troopers with heavy armour and strange weapons, the Black Guard was a force not to be reckoned with lightly. A Revolution Anew An army marching towards Leningrad could unfortunately not possibly be missed by even the Soviet bureaucratic heap of an intelligence. Not even an hour after having departed from Narva, on the Russian-Estonian border, the Black Guard was fully mobilised, along with the heavy defence network that had been established in most prominent Russian cities quickly after the Japanese had been routed. Instead of attacking Davidova in the forests of Ingria, the forces dug in within the city itself, where Tesla Coils and Flak Cannons would protect them from "the capitalist traitorous enemies within" as loudspeakers chanted all over the city. However, Davidova herself had participated in the defence of Leningrad the first time and many citizens of Leningrad refused to believe that she would betray the nation. Although her forces were outnumbered by the combined forces of the Leningrad Garrison and the Black Guard, Davidova had extensive knowledge of Leningrad's defences, and was planning to use it to her full advantage. Davidova smiled to herself as she reviewed the plan one last time. Good. Meanwhile, in the city, the Leningrad Garrison's forces patrolled the perimeter, while near the city's edge Tesla Coils stood, ready to fry anything that came within range. 2 klicks away from the city's edge, the driver of a Myeche MML Track sped across the rough terrain, followed by several other Myeches, all traveling in tight formation. The Myeche covered the 500 metres of ground quickly. Executing the battle plan, the driver manoeuvred his Myeche into position, flicked open a cover, and squeezed the trigger. The Myeche screamed as a massive barrage of rockets left the launch pods, in perfect synchrony with the other 66 Myeches of the 113th. The driver watched as the rockets streaked across the sky, contrails trailing behind. The conscript manning the Sentry Gun never saw the rocket that ended his life. Out of the blue, hundreds of rockets rained out from the sky, taking the patrol by surprise. Under the relentless barrage, the defences crumbled. The driver of the Myeche backed out of the firing position, and moved away. The driver pushed his vehicle to full speed, following a battalion of Hammer Tanks that had just started to move and were now rapidly advancing towards the city. Moving to the second position, the driver parked his Myeche and launched yet another salvo. The 1st Tank Battalion of the 113rd gained ground swiftly, and reached the city outskirts in just over a minute. They broke through the shattered defences easily, and with most of their officers dead, the relatively inexperienced conscripts manning the defences quickly surrendered and were rounded up. In less than 5 minutes, Davidova's forces had entered the city, without a single casualty. An Impenetrable Iron Curtain Supported by heavy artillery support from Myeches, the 1st Tank Battalion rolled into the city. Though they encountered some resistance, they quickly dispatched it with their 100mm kinetic guns, destroying several Rhinos and Sickles. During this time, they only lost 3 tanks. Other units were not nearly as lucky, however, and one Hammer company was wiped out in an ambush. By this time, members of the Leningrad Garrison were crossing over to Davidova's side, and several other defenders surrendered after putting up only token resistance, having been thrown off by the swiftness of the attack. As such, Davidova's forces had already made their way across a quarter of the city, with only minimal casualties on both sides, before they encountered any heavy resistance. Unfortunately, Cherdenko's men had gotten their act together by this time. The remaining Leningrad defenders had managed to regroup, and had entrenched themselves in the city. Soon blood flowed down every other alley as young Soviet soldiers gunned down their countrymen in vicious street fighting, and the Garrison bunkered down inside civilian buildings. What followed was vicious urban fighting as advancing units slowly pushed back the dug in defenders, razing several city blocks to the ground in the process. The citizens, fearing for their lives, took refuge in their basements as above them the sounds of gunfire and explosions could be heard. American journalist Walter Cronkite would later describe the battle as "a nightmare come true... straight from the Apocalypse". After four hours of bloody fighting, Davidova's army had forced the defenders back to the Bolshaya Neva river mouth, overlooking the Vasilievsky Island and being only a few kilometres from Cherdenko's headquarters; the Peter and Paul Fortress. By this time, the 92nd Rifle Division had lost 49% of its strength, and the 113rd Motor Rifle Division had been reduced to 66% of its original size. The 1st Tank Battalion was down to 35 Hammer Tanks from 50, and were in better shape than most. By now Davidova's forces were worn down. What happened next would make the last four hours look like a playground fight in comparison, as the Black Guard made its presence felt. The first indication that Davidova's forces had of this was when a V3 cruise missile crashed into the centre of a city block. To the horror of those around it, the entire city block disappeared in a massive explosion. Several more missiles came hurtling towards Davidova's forces, as the Black Guard hit Davidova's forces head on. One of the 1st Tank Battalion's Hammers suddenly exploded, as a massive "Armageddon" Tank rumbled onto the streets. Several Hammers of the 1st Tanks opened fire on the massive behemoth, but the 100mm rounds just bounced off the heavy armour plating, to no effect. No matter what Davidova's forces threw at it, the Armageddon just kept on coming. Several Twinblades tried to destroy it, to no avail, as high performance anti aircraft missiles streaked out of the tank's missile pods and smashed into the Twinblades. Finally, concentrated fire from several 100mm equipped Hammers and the 125mm Drakon cannons of an Apocalypse Tank disabled the mighty vehicle. The celebrations of the tank crews was cut short, however, as the repair systems of the Armageddon kicked in, quickly repairing any damage to the tank, and the already badly damaged Apocalypse exploded as it was struck by a salvo from the Armageddon. It was only after Perun Tank Destroyers were brought in to silence it that the tank finally ground to a halt for the last time, before blowing itself and the surrounding buildings to pieces as its self destruct systems kicked in. The Black Guard forces were forcing back Davidova's forces, which took heavy losses in the process. An advancing Black Guard tank company consisting of Rhino Heavy Tanks and "Romanov" Tesla Tanks had laid waste to several battalions before Twinblades destroyed them. Highly trained Black Guard troopers brutally slaughtered Davidova's conscripts, mowing down their enemies with ruthless efficiency, while their supporting Flak Transports downed several Twinblades with their powerful Flak Cannons, before turning their cannons to point at Davidova's ground forces. A group of Sickles that had been cutting down dozens of Black Guard troopers were made short work of by the Flak Transports. Overhead, Kirov Airships had just arrived. A Hammer Tank commander watched helplessly as entire city blocks were destroyed by the massive bombs dropped by the Kirovs, as their bombs exploded in blasts of Tesla energy. He narrowly escaped destruction, as a V3 wiped out the neighbouring city block. The V3 missiles continued to wreck havoc, demolishing block by block. An attempt to take the V3s out of the picture using Twinblades suceeded in destroying a quarter of the V3s before the Twinblades were taken down by heavy anti aircraft fire from Flak Transports. Myeches were able to neutralise another quarter before they were forced to pull back, having taken severe losses from V3 counter artillery fire. But it still wasn't enough, and the V3s continued to pound Davidova's forces. The situation was looking desperate. In less than an hour, Davidova's forces had already lost one third of the ground they had gained, and Black Guard forces were mopping up Davidova's forces. Already, Davidova was down to less than 40% overall strength. At this rate, Davidova could only hope that her unlikely allies would arrive in time. Enemy of Your Enemy A few hours before the army reached Leningrad, Davidova and Luuk detached a majority of the Stingrays from the Estonian naval defence, sending them out into the Baltic. Meeting the Baltic Fleet's flotilla of Orca Landers, the ships sailed quietly to Bornholm, where the Allied high-technology vehicles had been readied. Bringing them along on the Landers, the fleet returned unnoticed to the island of Saaremaa, disguised as a routine patrol. Arriving at the island, the MCV deployed and began processing prefabricated parts. The MCV's crew ran through a series of checklists and procedures. Finally, a Chronosphere stood on Soviet soil, for the first and last time. Inside the MCV, the crew waited anxiously, as the Chronosphere charged up. Finally, it was ready. The packed up MCV and the Allied 3rd Experimental Battalion disappeared in a flash of light. Seconds later, the Chronosphere exploded, blown apart by its own self destruct sequence, as a safety measure to prevent Allied technology from falling into Soviet hands. On Vasilievsky Island, the Chronosphered forces arrived behind the enemy lines. They were just in time. Davidova's forces had been reduced to barely over 25% of their initial strength, and casualties were mounting. The Black Guard troopers were taken by surprise. The shock on their face was clear as microwave bursts and accelerated particles blew apart the vehicles meant to be protecting the base. The look of shock only lasted a second, turning to pure horror as their bodies evaporated right before their very eyes. Throughout all this, the driver of an Athena watched calmly, as massive rods crashed into several Super Reactors, destroying them massive explosions and knocking out the city power grid. Without power, the Tesla Coils shut down, one by one. The remaining defenders inside the base, consisting mostly of Black Guard troopers, were quickly dispatched by the Pion Isospin Array. In short order, Manning's forces had deployed their MCV, which proceeded to pump out SPAM for a new base. Soon, tanks were rolling out of Armour Facilities as the Construction Yard started to produce different modules - ones that any Allied personnel with sufficient clearance would recognise as preparations for a Proton Collider. Chaos ensued among the Black Guard tank companies, as Mirage Tanks used their microwave cannons to full effect, cooking off the ammunition inside the hostile tanks. Several Rhino tanks exploded, struck from the rear. One tank company turned to face the Mirage Tanks only to find an unassuming car. Their confusion turned to panic as a second later, the car discarded its disguise to fire a high powered microwave burst. Explosions rocked the surrounding buildings as the tanks were destroyed by their own propellant. Several more Black Guard tanks were annihilated after surrounding uncloaked Mirage Tanks, only for the tanks to reveal the Guardian Tanks cloaked by their GAP generators. The Guardians made short work of the Black Guard tanks, thanks to their Spyglass target designators. Even Armageddon tanks could not withstand barrages from the Allied Particle Accelerators. An Armageddon tank exploded after being struck by several hypervelocity iron projectiles. Under attack from both sides, the Black Guard forces began to fall apart, although they continued to fight with deadly ferocity. Above the city, Bayard Fournier smirked as his Achilles fighter punched holes in the Kirov Airship with its Spectrum Quad Cannons. Several Flak Transports opened fire, but were unable to hit the Achilles, as it streaked across the sky and shredded a second Kirov Airship. Only after concentrated anti aircraft fire damaged his fighter was Captain Fournier forced to retreat. By this time, he had single handedly shot down four of the Kirov Airships. One of the Kirovs crashed into one of the Iron Curtains, and a massive fireball shot up into the sky as the Kirov exploded, destroying the Iron Curtain in the process. Spread thin trying to fight both Davidova and Manning at the same time, the Black Guard left the nearby base on Aptekarsky Island undermanned, allowing the Allies to breach it. Soon, a massive, enlarged bandwagon had called down a massive tungsten rod, which crashed into the second Iron Curtain, creating a huge explosion. Leaving This Futile Earth While the battle was turning in favour of the Allies, the remaining Kirov Airships had by now made their way to the front, and started bombing the ground forces to smithereens. In response, the Barkhausen Projector projected its microwaves into the air. While not enough to more than scrape the Kirovs (and some passing Twinblades), they did turn some of the Kirovs' attention away. Two of the airships turned westwards and approached the island the team was standing on. In response, the Barkhausen driver called for the Higgs MASS Tank to enlarge it. Afterwards, he pulled a special lever, turning off the safety measures. The Projector began sending microwaves into the skies constantly, colouring it lightly with a shade of orange. The Kirovs were now beginning to take damage for real, and one of the pressured Kirov drivers therefore turned on the gastroburners. The result was that it indeed did accelerate faster, but began taking even heavier damage from the microwaves. In a spectacular display of fireworks, the airship exploded above the Neva River. The tanks quickly turned and headed towards the middle of the island, but the slower Soviet ones weren't so lucky. When the airship wreck crashed into the water, the resulting wave flooded the coast of the Aptekarsky Island and the Zayachy Island, on which the Peter and Paul Fortress was seated. The bases by the coast were all demolished by the tide, and the V3N Rocket Launchers standing outside the Fortress crashed into its wall, tearing holes open for enemies. Inside the Cathedral, Cherdenko was furious. Liberal Soviet traitor scum and capitalist dogs had breached his defences; four of the Iron Curtains were gone, and the Fortress was an open target. Realizing that he stood before an imminent capture by the Allies, he resorted to his emergency plan. During its reconstruction, Cherdenko had designed the fortress as the last way of escape in case of defeat. Heading down to a secret facility underneath the Cathedral, he entered a top-secret code known only to himself and pressed a large red star-adorned button, sealing his fate. Soldiers from both sides gasped as the Cathedral's walls came crashing down, revealing a large rocket pod. Combat stopped as the rocket ignited, the massive flames torching the entire island beneath it and several nearby units. One of the Kirov Airships, set on fire, exploded in a massive fireball, destroying everything in the vicinity. Simultaneously, the overclocked Barkhausen Projector gave up and sent out microwaves all around it, destroying itself and the rest of the Allied forces - any remainders were torched by the subsequent vacuum created by the automatic Vacuum Imploder firing upon the rocket's departure, also eradicating any life remaining on the Aptekarsky Island. Before being destroyed, the Allied Proton Collider managed to launch its load at the rocket in order to bring it back down to ground. While the rocket had already left the atmosphere, the Fortress and the island it stood on collapsed into itself, the Neva River flooding the island and burying it in water. No one knows exactly what happened in the carnage, but the result was a completely destroyed city, without a single building remaining within three kilometres of the former Peter and Paul Fortress. Whatever the case, Cherdenko was nowhere to be found on Earth. Aftermath With only a few damaged tanks and physically or mentally hurt soldiers left on both sides, the parties agreed to an armistice. Soviet men who had just been firing at each other could shake hands like brothers again, playing sad Russian folk tunes on the site of their ruined apartments. As the to-be-Premier Davidova later spoke, "This shall be the last time citizens of the Union will fight their brothers, and not fight as brothers. The memories of the terror brought to the people when brother fights brother shall be left on this Earth - the Moon shall never have them." Having been escorted to Leningrad after the battle died down to inspect the battlefield and make sure any technology would not be captured, Manning met Davidova - having travelled into the carnage for the same reason herself - on the site of the ruined Winter Palace. What they talked about, no one knows, as both of them refused to tell anyone about it. "It was not a meeting between soldiers of war, but between siblings of peace," Manning would answer Allied officials when asked. Indeed, only a day later, Davidova would assemble a new government - most of Cherdenko's former one being present in Leningrad during the battle - and the Allies would recognize Davidova as the legitimate Premier of the Soviet Union. Her first action as Premier was to meet the Allied leaders on the CCCP Moskva in the Baltic Sea and sign the peace treaty between the Allied Nations and the Soviet Union. Whatever one would say about the treaty, especially in Eastern Europe, peace finally came to the world again. To this day, where Leningrad once stood now only charred ruins remain, except for a single memorial which stands in the middle of the Neva River, commemorating the countless number of Soviet lives that met their end on that fateful day. Category:Battles